Start with a solid change management
strategy

This tutorial
provides a discussion on what constitutes a solid change management
strategy. The topics covered are all addressed in Phase 1 of Prosci's
change management methodology found in the hardcopy
Change
Management Toolkit or the online
Change Management Pilot along with templates and assessments you can
use right away.

Why you need a change management strategy

A "one-size-fits-all" approach is not effective
for change management.
Think about these changes:

Acquiring a company of near equal size

Getting suppliers to use a new web-based form and process

Relocating office spaces within an
existing building

Implementing an
Enterprise Resource Planning solution

Reorienting around processes instead of functions

Releasing a new
product

These are all distinctly different changes, but each requires
change management to be successful. Each impacts people and
how they do their job. Each can suffer from slower adoption and lower
utilization. Each has risks associated with people not becoming engaged
or resisting the change.

Change Management Strategy
elements:

Situational awareness -
understand the change and who is impacted

Supporting structures - team and
sponsor structures

Strategy analysis - risks,
resistance and special tactics

While each of the initiatives needs change management to be
successful, the right amount and approach for change management will be
different. The change management strategy defines the approach needed to
manage change given the unique situation of the project or initiative.

What goes into the change management strategy

Situational awareness:

Change characteristics
- Begin by understanding the change that is being
introduced. Changes can be formalized projects, strategic initiatives or
even small adjustments to how the organization operates. Understanding
the characteristics of the change requires you to answer questions
like: What is the scope of the change? How many people will be
impacted? Who is being impacted? Are people being impacted the
same
or are they experiencing the change differently? What is being
changed - processes, systems, job roles, etc? What is the timeframe
for the change?

Organizational attributes
- Next, work to understand the people and groups being
impacted by the change. The organizational attributes are related to
the history and culture in the organization and describe the
backdrop against which this particular change is being introduced.
What is the perceived need for this change among employees and managers?
How have past changes been managed? Is there a shared vision for the
organization? How much change is going on right now?

Impacted groups
- The final step in building the situational awareness is developing
a map of who in the organization is being impacted by the change and
how they are being impacted. A single change - say the deployment of
a web-based expense reporting program - will impact different
groups very differently. Employees that do not have expenses to
report will not be impacted at all. Staff who travel once a quarter
will be only slightly impacted. Associates who are on the road all
the time will be more impacted, although filing expenses is only a
portion of their day-to-day work. And for those in accounting who
manage expense reporting, their jobs will be completely altered.
Outlining the impacted groups and showing how they will
be impacted
enables specific and customized plans later in the change management
process.

Supporting structure:

Team structure -
The change management team structure identifies who will be doing
the change management work. It outlines the relationship between the
project team and the change management team. The most frequent team
structures include 1) change management being a responsibility
assigned to one of the project team members or 2) an external change
management team supporting a project team. The key in developing the
strategy is to be specific and make an informed decision
when assigning the change management responsibility and
resources.

Sponsor coalition -
The sponsor coalition describes the leaders and managers that need
to be on-board for the change to be successful. Starting with the
primary sponsor (the person who authorized and funded the change),
the sponsor model documents the leaders of the groups that are
being impacted by the change. The change characteristics will
determine who must be part of the coalition. Each member of
the sponsor coalition has the responsibility to build support and
communicate the change with their respective audiences.

Strategy analysis:

Risk assessment - The risk of
not managing the people side of change on a particular change is related to the dimensions described
in the situational awareness section. Changes that are more
'dramatic' and father reaching in the organization have a higher
change management risk. Likewise, organizations and groups with
histories and cultures that resist change face higher change
management risk. In developing the strategy, overall risk and
specific risk factors are
documented.

Anticipated resistance -
Many times, after a project is introduced and meets resistance,
members of the team reflect that "they saw that reaction coming."
In creating the change management strategy, identify where
resistance can be expected. Are particular regions or divisions
impacted differently than others? Were certain groups advocating a
different solution to the same problem? Are some groups heavily
invested with how things are done today? Note particular anticipated
resistance points depending on how each group is related to the
change.

Special tactics -
The final step of the change management strategy is the
identification of any special tactics that will be required for this
particular change initiative. The special tactics formalize
many of the learnings from the strategy development related to the
change and how it impacts different audiences in the
organization. Throughout the change implementation, special tactics
may need to be revisited and updated.

What's next

Formulating the change management strategy is the first critical step
in implementing a change management methodology. The strategy
provides direction and results in
informed decision making throughout the
change process. A well-formulated strategy really brings the project or
change to life, describing who and
how it will impact the organization.

The change management strategy also contributes to formulation of the rest of the
change management plans.
For instance, the groups identified in the strategy should each be
addressed specifically in the communication
plan. Steps for building and maintaining the coalition
identified in the strategy are part of the sponsorship roadmap.
Each of the subsequent change management plans and activities are guided
by the findings in the change management strategy.

Change management strategy

Change
management plans

Situational awareness

Supporting structure

Strategy analysis

> drives
>

Communication plan

Sponsorship roadmap

Coaching plan

Training plan

Resistance management plan

Reinforcement planning

Projects meet their objectives when they manage the human side of
change effectively. A robust change management strategy sets the stage
for effective change management and project success.

Prosci's change management methodology -
available in the the hardcopy
Change
Management Toolkit or the online
Change Management Pilot - provides step-by-step instruction for
creating a change management strategy and all of the change
management plans needed for your project's success. In the
Phase 1 - Preparing for change portion you
will find ready to use assessments and templates to create
your strategy (listed on the right).

Purchase access to the methodology and its tools in
either the hardcopy
Change
Management Toolkit which is a 3-ring binder plus USB driveor the online
Change Management Pilot which gives you 4-click access to the
process and downloadable tools from any web browser.

Want to learn more? Become certified in change management by
attending Prosci's 3-day
training
program in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. If you are looking for a
reference guide, Prosci has several products you can use to apply a
structured approach to managing change:

Tools for applying change management:

Change management certification ($2800)- 3-day program where you bring
a project you are working on and apply all of the assessments and
tools as you learn them - taught by former Fortune 500 executives at locations across the U.S.

Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking report
($289) - journal-style report with lessons learned and best
practices from 650 participants, presented in an easy-to-use format - reads as
a checklist of what to do and what not to do

Change Management Pilot Professional ($559) - the content of the
Change Management Pilot plus additional benchmarking data and an
online version of the Change Management Guide for Managers and
Supervisors